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The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet.  It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

Forum BEHAVIOR Bunny gone bad!

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    • FrankieFlash
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        Bunjamin’s behavior has taken a turn for the worst since his neuter surgery. I keep telling myself it hasn’t been a month yet but tomorrow it will be and I don’t think it’s going to change overnight. He still loves pets and cuddles but when we’re not giving him constant attention he’s chewing carpet. We think he did some damage under the bed, so we nic cubed it out and that made two more corners he’s digging at. He got down to the baseboard in the closet behind the door. And he digs around the nightstand and dresser because he wants to get underneath them to chew them. He’s got a million boxes and boxes filled with hay. Wicker baskets and balls, phonebooks. We spray him with water when he chews carpet but he just runs away and goes to dig somewhere else. My boyfriend is beyond frustration and doesn’t really want to let him out anymore but I can’t do that. Anyone have any new solutions? We don’t have a room bunjamin can stay in that doesn’t have carpet and we’re still renting.


      • Sarita
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          Unfortunately the behavior doesn’t go away in a month it just becomes less and less as they mature.

          I think at this point he still needs to be confined until he ages some more. Just give him lots of places to hide and chew in his condo and wait a bit longer.


        • peppypoo
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            Agreed with Sarita – it can be age-related and subside as he gets older. Peppy was a little terror until she was almost a year old, even after being spayed…nightmarish times indeed! However, she’s a lot better now at about 2 y/o.


          • FrankieFlash
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              I know what you guys are saying is right. It’s just going to be hard because well I’m still wrapped around his furry little paw. So are we talking confined to his cage? Doesn’t he still need to come out and run at least once a day? I’m thinking if he does, it’ll have to be heavily supervised. I mean we already don’t leave him alone now since the behavior changed but we still try to do other stuff when he’s out and its near impossible to get anything done.


            • Bunbun500
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                I’m so glad you posted this, I was just going to post the exact same situation about my girl Winnie. She was spayed a few weeks ago but has been VERY naughty! She started digging the carpet under the couch so I blocked that off, then she was digging around the barrier. She has plenty of places and things to chew on or dig in, but she won’t touch them.

                I’m also wondering what you mean by confining. Like blocking off a safe running area with an xpen?


              • Freyja
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                  I have the same problem with Parsley, i think its an age thing, he has plenty of toys etc but insists on destroying my skirting boards, bed and anything else made of wood. Ive had to resort to x-pen confinement whenever im not in the room and keeping a constant vigil when i am. After about 10 minutes of me saying ‘no’ and loud clapping consantly he usually gets bored and stops for an hour or two..im just hoping it will get less as he gets older, my poor bed is all chewed and sad looking lol


                • Monkeybun
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                    Not confined to his cage, but maybe get him an area fenced off with an xpen or 2. Cover the floor with something he isn’t inclined to dig at, like linoleum scraps or some such. He does still need exercise, but contained exercise where he can’t get into as much trouble.


                  • FrankieFlash
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                      I should probably update. Bunjamin eventually grew out of this. But we did have to be more alert than usual for a while and he spent more time in his condo (he’s usually just locked up at night). We found the clapping and spray bottle would get him to immediately stop the action, usually. Then we followed up by not petting him right away and spraying the area he was chewing with perfume. That worked pretty well. And if it was one of those days where he’d go from doing one bad thing to another we put him in his condo for a while and he usually would pout and then fall asleep. He now is only bad on rare occasion.

                      I hope that Winnie and Parsley get past this stage too!


                    • tanlover14
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                        Not sure if this will help anyone — but we spent a lot of time getting our buns to not chew the carpet by watching them constantly. Every time they did it we’d push their toy under their mouth so it was in the way and then push down on his head (to show dominance). We had a few dominance battles with them (then trying to push their heads against us and go back to digging) and they’d of course just toss the toy out of the way but after them realizing we weren’t going to stop being annoying they finally resorted to their toys to chew on. Sometimes they have lapses but I think they got sick of losing the dominance battles and gave up. Hahaha. Hope this helps. It worked with all 3 of our buns!


                      • Chesters Mommy
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                          Haha tanlover, I’ve had dominance battles with Chester. He gets so irritated when I keep shoving a toy under his nose to get him to stop biting something he shouldn’t. He picks them up and chucks them out of his way. When he realizes I’m not giving up, he hops away in frustration lol 


                        • RabbitPam
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                            I was going to recommend spraying the chewed areas with a mixture of white vinegar and water. (Not toxic like perfumes). You won’t smell it, but he will. You can also wipe down the boards with water/vinegar and eventually it will be a deterrent.

                            I’ve also taken seagrass mattes, the really big flat ones, and cut them into 3″ wide strips and laid them on top of the carpet edges that were getting pulled up. It just provided a layer of protection that was safe to chew. With the suggestion of substituting a chew toy, saying NO clearly, and distracting by moving him away, it should combine to get him to lose interest and play elsewhere.

                            But yes, he is not out of the hormone woods yet. Give it another week of semi-confinement.


                          • FrankieFlash
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                              I like your ideas RP. It’s actually been 2 months since his neuter. My original post was in June and came back up in July. But that’s okay with me if it’s helping newcomers. My whole time with Bunjamin has been a learning experience.


                            • tanlover14
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                                ChestersMommy — AHAHAHAHA. So like my experience. It was almost too adorable to watch him fling his toys out of the way and turn his butt on me and then finally give up. LOL. But I’m pretty sure everything my buns do I think is the cutest thing in the whole world. Even when it’s them being total terrors.

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                            Forum BEHAVIOR Bunny gone bad!